TOKYO: Stocks in Asia rebounded strongly in early trade on Thursday after US President Donald Trump’s stunning reversal on sweeping reciprocal tariffs.

Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on the most onerous new tariffs on imports to the United States for every country except China, sending US stocks soaring.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 8.3 percent in morning trade on Thursday while in Seoul the Kospi was up over five percent. In Australia the ASX 200 jumped more than six percent.

Shanghai was yet to open.

Masayuki Kubota from Rakuten Securities in Japan called Trump’s announcement “a wonderful big surprise”.

The Japanese yen, seen as a safe haven, climbed by 0.64 percent against the greenback, to 146.83 yen to the dollar, and gold gained 0.5 percent to 3,097 dollars an ounce.

Japanese auto giant Toyota’s share price rose almost 10 percent while rival Honda climbed more than eight percent higher.

Trump’s tariffs of 25 percent on car imports remains in place howeever.

Chip-related technology firms also recovered strongly with Advantest up 15 percent and Screen Holdings up 10.5 percent in Tokyo, while SK Hynix soared more than 12 percent in Seoul.

On Wall Street Wednesday, the Dow index soared to close nearly eight percent higher while the Nasdaq rose 12.2 percent to notch its best day in 24 years.